L’esercizio del voto: “dovere civico” in che senso?

The exercise of the right to vote: a “civic duty” in what way? After some introductory remarks on the duty to vote, the Author focuses on its mandatory nature, according to a “functionalist” or “personalist” conception. Another examined topic is the debate that took place in the Italian Constituent Assembly, which led to affirm the “civic duty” to vote in the Constitution as well as some critical issues in matter, especially found by the institutionalist theories about the utilisation of the “duty” and “obligation” formulas in public law. In the final paragraphs, an analysis of constitutional jurisprudence is provided, which shows the pre-eminence gradually acquired by the conception of the vote as “right”, vis-à-vis the weakening of its consideration as a “duty”.